Milan's home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with Inter, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 80,018.[10] Inter are considered their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called Derby della Madonnina, which is one of the most followed derbies in football.[11] As of 2010, Milan is the third most supported team in Italy,[12] and the seventh most supported team in Europe, ahead of any other Italian team.[13]

The owner of the club is former Italian Prime Minister and controlling shareholder of MediasetSilvio Berlusconi, and the vice-president is Adriano Galliani. The club is one of the wealthiest and most valuable in Italian and world football.[14] It was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club Association.[15]

A.C. Milan was founded as Milan Cricket and Foot-Ball Club on 16 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin,[4] who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907.[2]

Milan won a tenth league title in 1979, but after the retirement of Gianni Rivera in the same year, the team went into a period of decline. The club was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and as punishment was relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history.[18] The scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches.[18] Milan achieved promotion back to Serie A at the first attempt, winning the 1980–81 Serie B title,[7] but were again relegated a year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place. In 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A,[7] where they achieved a sixth place finish in 1983–84.

During this period, the club was involved in the Calciopoli scandal, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees.[25] A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers,[26] but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15-point deduction and was initially banned from the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points,[27] which allowed the club to retain its Champions League participation.

Colours and badge

Red and black are the colours which have represented the club throughout its entire history. They were chosen to represent the players' fiery ardor (red) and the opponents' fear to challenge the team (black). Rossoneri, the team's widely used nickname, literally means "the red & blacks" in Italian, in reference to the colours of the stripes on its jersey.[30]

Another nickname derived from the club's colours is the Devil. An image of a red devil was used as Milan's logo at one point with a Golden Star for Sport Excellence located next to it.[31] As is customary in Italian football, the star above the logo was awarded to the club after winning 10 league titles, in 1979. For many years, Milan's badge was simply the Flag of Milan, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose.[31] The modern badge used today represents the club colours and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.[31]

White shorts and black socks are usually worn as part of the home strip. Milan's away strip has always been completely white.[32] It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), and only won one out of three in the home strip. The third strip, which is rarely used, changes yearly, being mostly black with red trimmings in recent seasons.

Giuseppe Meazza Stadium

The team's stadium is the 80,018 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The more commonly used name, San Siro, is the name of the district where it is located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by funding from Milan's president at the time, Piero Pirelli. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took 13 and a half months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city council in 1935, and since 1947 has been shared with Internazionale, when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant.

The first game played at the stadium was on 19 September 1926, when Milan lost 6–3 in a friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San Siro on 19 September 1926, losing 1–2 to Sampierdarenese. From an initial capacity of 35,000 spectators, the stadium has undergone several major renovations, most recently in preparation for the 1990 FIFA World Cup when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity has been reduced to 80,018, to meet the new standards set by UEFA.

Based on the English model for stadiums, San Siro is specifically designed for football matches, as opposed to many multi-purpose stadiums used in Serie A. It is therefore renowned in Italy for its fantastic atmosphere during matches, thanks to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flares by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.

AC Milan Emirates Stadium

On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. As opposed to many other stadiums in Italy, Milan's new stadium will likely be used for football only, having no athletics track.

On 11 December 2014, Barbara Berlusconi announced a proposal to build a property stadium of 42,000 seats in Portello, behind the new HQ of the Rossoneri, and the big square "Piazza Gino Valle". The new village with shopping malls and hotel is located near CityLife district and is served by the metro.[33]

Supporters and rivalries

Milan is one of the best supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica.[34] Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists.[35] On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class.[35] One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan.[36] Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate Rossonere.[36] Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference,[36] but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing,[37] until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.[38]

Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995.[44] However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbour club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina twice every Serie A season. The name of the derby refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue atop the Milan Cathedral is one of the city's main attractions. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous (often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the start of the game. Flares are commonly present and contribute to the spectacle but they have occasionally led to problems, including the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004–05 Champions League quarterfinal match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.[45]

Co-ownerships

The following are players who have been transferred to another team with Milan retaining the right of participation (i.e. 50% of the patrimonial rights) to their contracts. Co-ownership are set to be banned in July 2015. For further information, see: Co-ownership (football).

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Honours

Milan is one of the most successful clubs in Italy, having won a total of 29 major trophies, and was the most successful club in the world in terms of international trophies until February 2014, when Al Ahly SC claimed that title.[85][86] It is now the second most successful club, together with Boca Juniors,[87] with a record of fourteen European trophies and four world titles. Milan has earned the right to place a star on its jersey in recognition of the fact that it has won at least ten scudetti. In addition, the club is permanently allowed to display a multiple-winner badge on its shirt as it has won more than five European Championship Cups.[88]

Worldwide

Club statistics and records

Paolo Maldini made a record 902 appearances for Milan, including 647 in Serie A

Paolo Maldini holds the records for both total appearances and Serie A appearances for Milan, with 902 official games played in total and 647 in Serie A (as of 31 May 2009, not including playoff matches),[89] the latter being an all time Serie A record.[90]

Swedish forward Gunnar Nordahl scored 38 goals in the 1950–51 season, 35 of which were in Serie A, setting an Italian football and club record. He went on to become Milan's all time top goalscorer, scoring 221 goals for the club in 268 games.[91] He is followed in second place by Andriy Shevchenko with 175 goals in 322 games, and Gianni Rivera in third place, who has scored 164 goals in 658 games. Rivera is also Milan's youngest ever goalscorer, scoring in a league match against Juventus at just 17 years.

Legendary tactician Nereo Rocco, the first proponent of catenaccio in the country, was Milan's longest serving head coach, sitting on the bench for over 9 years (in two spells) in the 1960s and early 1970s, winning the club's first European Cup triumphs. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who purchased the club in 1986, is Milan's longest serving president (23 years, due to a two-year vacancy between 2004 and 2006).

The first official match in which Milan participated was in the Third Federal Football Championship, the predecessor of Serie A, losing 3–0 to Torinese. Milan's biggest ever victory was 13–0 versus Audax Modena, in a league match at the 1914–15 season. Its heaviest defeat was recorded in the league at the 1922–23 season, beaten 0–8 by Bologna.

During the 1991–92 season, the club achieved the feature of being the first team to win the Serie A title without losing a single game. Previously, only Perugia had managed to go unbeaten over an entire Serie A season (1978–79), but finished second in the table. In total, Milan's unbeaten streak lasted 58 games, starting with a 0–0 draw against Parma on 26 May 1991 and coincidentally ending with a 1–0 home loss to Parma on 21 March 1993. This is a Serie A record as well as the third longest unbeaten run in top flight European football, coming in behind Steaua Bucureşti's record of 104 unbeaten games and Celtic's 68 game unbeaten run.[92][93]

Along with Boca Juniors, Milan won more FIFA recognised international club titles than any other club in the world.[94]

The sale of Kaká to Real Madrid in 2009, broke the 8-year-old world football transfer record held by Zinedine Zidane, costing the Spanish club £56 million.[95] However, that record lasted for less than a month, broken by Cristiano Ronaldo's £80 million transfer. This record, however, is in terms of nominal British pound rates, not adjusted to inflation or the real value in Euro, the currency used in Italy and Spain.

A.C. Milan as a company

Milan is a subsidiary of Fininvest Group since 1986. The office of club president has been vacant since 8 May 2008, following a new Italian law that forbids the country's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to have other managing roles in private companies or clubs.[102] The vice-president and CEO of the company is Adriano Galliani.

Fly Emirates is the current main sponsor for Milan's shirt starting for the 2010–11 season and lasting 5 years,[105]after 4 years with Austrian online betting company bwin.com as the sponsor.

Previously, the German car manufacturer Opel (owned by GM) had sponsored Milan for 12 seasons. For most of them, Opel was displayed on the front of the shirt, but in the 2003–04 and the 2005–06 seasons respectively, Meriva and Zafira (two cars from their range) were displayed.[citation needed]

The current shirts are supplied by German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, whose deal runs to the end of the 2017–18 season.[106] The deal makes Adidas the official manufacturer of all kits, training equipment and replica outfits. Prior to Adidas, the Italian sports company Lotto produced Milan's sportswear.

On 14 January 2008, Milan and Adidas renewed the sponsorship contract until 30 June 2018. According to the new contract, Adidas will be responsible for 3 separate areas of sponsorship; the sponsorship on the shirt, the merchandising and the distribution of all non-football related Milan products.[107]

AC Milan Group made an aggregate net loss in recent year, was one of the largest among the Italian clubs, which: 2005, net loss of €4.5 million (separate account);[108] 2006, a net income of €11.904 million (contributed by the sales of Shevchenko);[108] 2007, a net loss of €32 million;[109] 2008, a net loss of €77 million;[110] 2009, a net loss of €19 million (contributed by the sales of Kaká);[111] 2010 a net loss of €65 million;[112] 2011 a net loss of €67.334 million[113] and most recently a net loss of €6.857 million (contributed by the sales of Thiago Silva and Ibrahimović).[114]

AC Milan had re-capitalization of €75 million in 2007 financial year;[115] €93 million in 2008; €18 million in 2009[116] and €44 million in 2010[117] (€20.9 million of the capital increase was converted from shareholder loan); €87 million in 2011;[118] €29 million in 2012.[119] However, the group has had negative equity at the end of each fiscal year since 2006. The balance was €40.8 million in 2006, €47.5 million in 2007, €64.5 million in 2008, €72 million in 2009, €96.6 million in 2010, €77.091 million in 2011 and €54.948 million in 2012.